Diabetes Type 2 Cure, Newcastle Uni Research.

banie01

Hiya folks,
Since this http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-diabetes-extreme-diet-06252011,0,7790769.story was announced a few days ago I have been trawling the web looking for more info and indeed have made an appointment with my Doc to discuss it.

I am just wondering that seeing as it was a fairly small scale study and might have an inherent statistical anamoly given the small sample size, as to what other folks here in the Type 2 boat think?

I am hoping there will be at least an Irish study on this at least and I am willing to put myself forward as a guinea pig if there is.

I'm lucky enough that my own Type 2 is fairly well controlled with my HbA1c varying between 6.8-7.7 over the last few years but as it stands I'm finding the side effects of my increasing metformin dosage to be inconvenient to say the least .
Now given that I know my own illness is self inflicted(Years spent partying a little to hard when I lived abroad Jeigi and Redbull has a lot to answer for )
I feel that this 8 week regime could at least give me a shot at getting my pancreas back up and running and with keeping to portion control and sensible GI mnagement it could at least get me to a situation where my thoughts aren't revolving around the possibility of future diabetic complications that may crop up down the road.

Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

Hal Emmerich

British researchers have developed what they say is a "cure" for Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. And all you have to do is starve yourself for eight weeks.

Roy Taylor, head of the magnetic resonance imaging unit at Newcastle University in Britain, and his colleagues studied 11 patients who had developed diabetes later in life and who had had it for several years. The patients averaged 220 pounds at the beginning of the study. Each was put on a 600-calorie-per-day diet that included a special diet drink and non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus and cabbage. The diet was followed for eight weeks.


Taylor reported Saturday at a San Diego meeting of the American Diabetes Assn. and in the journal Diabetologia that, after one week on the diet, each of the patients' fasting blood sugar, taken before breakfast, had returned to normal. At the end of the eight weeks, the patients had lost an average of 33 pounds and had no signs of diabetes. Three months after returning to a normal diet, seven of them remained free of the disease. Average weight gain in that three months was 6.5 pounds.

Taylor believes he has an explanation for the results. At the beginning of the study, MRI scans of the patients' pancreases showed that they held an elevated level of fat, 8% compared with the normal 6%. That extra fat impairs the organ's ability to produce insulin, he speculated. At the end of the study, fat levels in the pancreas were down to normal in each patient.

"We believe that this shows that Type 2 diabetes is all about energy balance in the body," Taylor said in a statement. "If you are eating more [calories] than you burn, then the excess is stored in the liver and pancreas as fat, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes in some people. What we need to examine further is why some people are more susceptible to developing diabetes than others."

He added that, "We used the 600-calorie diet to test a hypothesis. What I can tell you definitively is that if people lose substantial weight by normal means, they will lose their diabetes."

An estimated 25 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, in which the body does not respond properly to insulin produced by the pancreas. Experts recommend that patients consult with a doctor before attempting such an extreme diet.

This isin't new, it's being known for awhile that if you just lose the excess pounds you'll return to normal but alot of people are just to dam lazy and have the "sure it's only a tablet a day" attitude mostly because their crap GPs didn't put the fear of God into them about what the possible side effects are if they didn't/don't manage their new illness properly.

I think you're wasting your time going into your GP to talk about this, at best you'll come out with a diet sheet, €60 less in your pocket and "come back to me in a few weeks"

Best of luck with it anyway.

SeaSide

banie01 wrote: »

Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

It looks like such fun...

seriously would be nearly impossible unless you were cloistered on a desert island. 600 cal a day. But would give it a shot.

mike65

11 patients who had developed diabetes later in life and who had had it for several years. The patients averaged 220 pounds at the beginning of the study. Each was put on a 600-calorie-per-day diet that included a special diet drink and non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus and cabbage. The diet was followed for eight weeks.


Taylor reported Saturday at a San Diego meeting of the American Diabetes Assn. and in the journal Diabetologia that, after one week on the diet, each of the patients' fasting blood sugar, taken before breakfast, had returned to normal. At the end of the eight weeks, the patients had lost an average of 33 pounds and had no signs of diabetes. Three months after returning to a normal diet, seven of them remained free of the disease.

So its not going to work for everyone, is there any proof of the fix being sustained? I'd also be a little concerned about 600 calories a day if you have type two but not a lot of weight to lose.

banie01

Well I spoke with my GP about this today and he is sending me back out to see my Endocrinologist in the hopes that there will be a large scale study soon here in Ireland.
So here's hoping!

I fully agree with losing weight leading to an improvement in control generally, In my own case though I am 1.98mtr tall and weigh 108Kg with a BMI of 27.5 which would be overweight on the metric but until recently I played a lot of rugby was fairly fit and carried a lot muscle so I wouldn't have considered myself overweight.

With regards to the 600 calories a day diet....Yes it is restrictive and would be hard going if I try it.
But I'll be honest I'd rather spend 8 weeks hungry in the hope of rebooting my pancreas(Under medical supervision of course) Than have the recurrent thoughts of amputation, blindness and heart disease that can creep into mind at times are a lot more scary than going hungry in the hope of at least an improvement of the condition.

SeaSide

banie01 wrote: »

In my own case though I am 1.98mtr tall and weigh 108Kg with a BMI of 27.5 which would be overweight on the metric but until recently I played a lot of rugby was fairly fit and carried a lot muscle so I wouldn't have considered myself overweight.

Get your excuses in early eh

At that kind of intake per day the chances of you being able to work during that time would be pretty slim. I could also see my mood being so foul that I would have to surrender my membership of the human race for the duration.

banie01

SeaSide wrote: »

Get your excuses in early eh

LOL, yeah that too....
But I'm more and more of the opinion that since my ghoul acting in my 20's caused this for me
I'm willing to try a bit of responsibility in my 30's to see if I can effect a positive change to it

5live

SeaSide wrote: »

Get your excuses in early eh

At that kind of intake per day the chances of you being able to work during that time would be pretty slim. I could also see my mood being so foul that I would have to surrender my membership of the human race for the duration.

At a potential 60% success rate (thanks mike65) i would be prepared to leave the planet, not to mind the human race, for 2 months for a chance to cure my type 1. 60 days of misery for a 'normal' lifestyle. Yup, for me, it's a no-brainer:)